The former captain is considered one of Australia's greatest cricketers, amassing a remarkable set of statistics, including most test victories as captain, most runs by an Australian, most centuries by an Australian, and most consecutive test victories by a captain

England v Australia 2005 Ashes Third Test With Australia needed 423 to win, which would be a record fourth innings total to win a match, English hopes were on a high. Ponting battled on before eventually succumbing to Harmison after seven hours on the crease to record the first Australian century of the series with a score of 156. This was good enough to earn Man of the Match honours and ensure that the match ended in a draw rather than Australian defeat

Australia v England 2006 Ashes Second Test The crowd applaud as Ponting reaches his half-century. Ponting reached his 33rd Test century in the 62nd over, just before tea, before Matthew Hoggard got him in the 83rd over when the Australian captain was on 142. This score saw him become Australia's leading century-scorer in Test history

Australia v England 2006 Ashes Third Test Perhaps his finest hour as he leads an Australian team containing (amongst others) Matthew Hayden. left, Adam Gilchrist, second left, and Shane Warne, to a 5-0 victory to regain the Ashes. It was the first "whitewash" in an Ashes series since 1920-21

Australia v South Africa 2006 Third Test What a way to celebrate your 100th test match - not only did the Australian captain score the winning runs but he also got a century in both innings and is the only player in the history of the game to do so